SPRINGVALE — The Mill Street dam, known locally as the Alpaca dam because it used to service the nearby mill of the same name, has held back water for about 100 years.
And while a recent report from Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting published a week ago notes the dam, along with others classified as “high hazard” by the state are overdue for inspection, and quotes from a 2003 report that notes some issues, local officials say the dam is safe.
Marcel Blouin, Sanford’s public property director, concedes that some repairs may be needed to the sides of the dam, but, “I don’t think there is a problem,” he said in a recent interview.
“For the most part, it seems intact and functional,” said Blouin, who has been the town’s eyes and ears on the dams for more than 20 years.
Sanford owns six dams ”“ Mill Street, River Street, Number One Pond, Bridge Street, Square Pond and Emery Mills.
Blouin said the Mill Street dam underwent extensive repairs in the late 1990s that included refacing the walls, placing new concrete on the upstream walls and rebuilding the gate. He said the sides of the dam need some work where concrete is flaking. He said there is some money in the town’s capital plan to study what repairs are required.
“We want to make sure what we’re doing is the best course of action,” he said.
Maine Emergency Management Agency Deputy Director Bruce Fitzgerald couldn’t speak specifically to the Mill Street dam, but said the “high hazard” definition has nothing to do with condition, but rather the potential loss of life and damage to a community in its wake if a dam were to breech.
Blouin he’s not so sure he agrees with the high hazard designation.
“There’s not a lot of water behind that dam. We won’t get a 17-foot-high wall of water through the center of town (if the dam were to break),” he pointed out.
The town’s Emergency Management Director Raymond Parent said he believes there needs to be a reassessment of the dams, their classifications and what constitutes their designation.
“I don’t think there’s seven to 12 feet of water behind that dam. I don’t see it taking the bridge out,” if it were to fail, he said.
Parent said he’s not a dam expert, but notes the Mill Street dam “is a big hunk of cement.”
“I think it’s been maintained. I’m not worried about it,” he said.
The Mill Street dam was last inspected by state officials in 2003, and is now six years overdue, according to the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, which quotes from the 2003 inspection report:
“Of concern was the movement, settlement and material deterioration of the L(eft) toe ”¦ concrete dike wall. The spillway showed signs of concrete deterioration, minor cracking and some leakage. The sluice gate was not tested nor was the outlet pipe inspected. No deterioration of recent repairs were noted.”
The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting requested records on all Maine dams from the Maine Emergency Management Agency to determine if the state is complying with a 2001 Dam Safety Law that required inspections every two years for high hazard dams and every four year for significant hazard dams, according to the story published in the Journal Tribune and other newspapers last week. They found half of the 25 high hazard dams were two to seven years overdue for mandated inspections and a similar pattern for 69 dams statewide designated as significant hazard.
Until last year, Maine for several years employed one dam inspector to examine all of the dams in Maine ”“ upwards of 800. Last year, the state hired Nick Ciomei as assistant dam inspector.
Ciomei has spent time in Sanford in recent months, as the town is in the midst of a study of the Emery Mills dam. As well, the town is in the final stages of entering an interlocal agreement with the town of Shapleigh, where the Emery Mills dam is located, for maintenance of that structure. He said he’s been looking at all the dams in town and is monitoring the Emery Mills dam for leaks.
As to the Emery Mills dam, Blouin said the front of the dam has been surveyed and he’s looking to the final report to see if there has been any movement.
Fitzgerald, while conceding inspection reports on the Mill Street dam and others statewide have been lagging, said that is due primarily to the small staff tasked with doing the job.
“We only have two people, and they’re on the road looking at dams all over the state,” he said. “The fact there’s no written reports doesn’t mean they haven’t been there and aren’t aware of the condition. We’re in touch with mill owners, municipalities and first responders.”
And Fitzgerald said there are “tabletop” exercises that have been completed that show what would likely happen, and the response, if dams were to fail.
“We’re doing a lot of preparedness,” he said.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
